3 weeks to go

It has been 3 weeks since our last trip to Indy and my last update, and Lord willing, will be 3 weeks before our next trip. And that next time, we will be going up for my c-section. We pray that Hope will be kept safe until that time, and not try to come too early.

The past 3 weeks have been a little crazy. We had a visit from my parents, where they generously spent their week off cleaning our house to get it ready to sell, and watching our kids while David and I flew out to New Jersey to go house hunting. After getting back from that trip (me feeling thoroughly like a country mouse after seeing the city, I might add...), David and I made an offer on a house in Boonton, NJ, which has since been accepted! We are now waiting on inspections to happen next week, and then we'll be all set to close on the house this summer. We praise God for providing a house for us that we love, and showing us that He is preparing the way for us in the northeast. Just so you'll come visit us, here are a few pictures:

(The street's really not as steep as it looks--I just tilted the camera a little)








Our awesome, huge dining room, so you can come have dinner with us:









And the cool fireplace in the living room, complete with wood-burning stove:


Since getting back, David and I have continued to de-clutter this house, in preparation for putting it on the market next week. We were going to put it up this week, but a nasty case of the end-of-the-season flu bug made the rounds, and we pushed meeting with our realtor until next week.

So, finally, here's our update on Hope! We went in this morning for another ultrasound, meeting with Dr. Hiett, and amniocentesis. The ultrasound had nothing new: Hope is continuing to grow at the same rate, including her stomach and head. They're still a little small, but they're staying in the same percentiles as the previous ultrasounds. The tech said she weighs 4 lbs, 14 oz. This seems tiny to me, but if she puts on another pound in the next 3 weeks, she'll be about 6 pounds, which is closer to normal. Dr. Hiett really refused to comment on any of her measurements, instead deferring all comments until after she has an MRI the day she is born. He then did the amniocentesis. It didn't hurt much, but it did feel very strange. It didn't help that as soon as he got his needle in a pocket of fluid, Hope moved, and he had to try to find another spot. Because I'm so far along, they require a non-stress test after the amnio just to make sure the baby's ok. I've never done one of those before, and it was pretty boring--they hook you up to monitors for 20 minutes to make sure the baby's heart rate is where it should be. While we were doing that, one of the genetic counselors came in to talk about what tests they'll do from the amniotic fluid, and what tests will happen after Hope is born. The short version of the story is that we will get some preliminary results on Monday (or Tuesday at the latest), and then we'll get the full panel of results back about 10 days after that. After Hope is born, David and I will need to decide how much more, if any, genetic testing we're going to have done on her.

To finish up our visit, David and I met with Rosie and a team of 3 supportive care people. This is the team that will help us out with arrangements if Hope is not going to survive. They listened to what our desires are for the first few hours after Hope is born, and we talked about a few of the worst-case-scenario options. All in all, I was happy with the way the talk went. I think we're all on the same page about how we want treatment to look, and it will be helpful to know a few familiar faces if we have to deal with those end-of-life issues. Please continue to pray for us to have wisdom with all the medical decisions we will be making for Hope.

So, that's all for now. The next 3 weeks will be filled with some final organizational details (when will the kids come up to the hospital?), washing some baby linens and the car seat cover, and finishing up some packing and decluttering in the house. Did I mention that I'm in full nesting mode, and it's manifesting itself in packing every single item I will not need for the next 4 months (which is a surprising number of items--how did we get so many books??). I'm hoping to put up a picture of our almost-finished Hope quilt, and will certainly post the results of the amnio as soon as we know them. Thank you all for your love and your prayers--we cannot do this without you!